


Once Again, Towards You

by bitsori



Category: Stray Kids (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - High School, Based on the On Track MV, Dumbass Teenagers with Crushes, Friends to Lovers, M/M, Misunderstandings, Stray Kids as Members of a High School Film Club, roundabout confessions, seemingly unrequited crushes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-18
Updated: 2020-11-18
Packaged: 2021-03-08 20:48:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,390
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27473035
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bitsori/pseuds/bitsori
Summary: “You're by yourself today,” Jisung comments, falling into step beside Minho as the latter walks out of the gates of their high school.“Very astute, Han Jisung,” Minho retorts back.“I live to observe,” Jisung says back with a grin. “Where's Hyunjin?”Minho shrugs. “Oh. Youknow.”--or: In which Jisung keeps Minho company in an attempt to cheer him up after Hyunjin gets the girl.
Relationships: Han Jisung | Han/Lee Minho | Lee Know, Hwang Hyunjin/Original Female Character(s), Minor or Background Relationship(s)
Comments: 32
Kudos: 529
Collections: STRAY KIDS MV FICFEST





	Once Again, Towards You

**Author's Note:**

> **Written for[SKZ MV FICFEST](http://twitter.coms/skzmvfest); Inspired by Stray Kids' [On Track](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XkxWIAe3NDU) M/V.**
> 
> Originally I was going to write this story for MSBINGO, but I went with another direction there when I blacked out my second card. I almost didn’t write this for MVFEST either, because I came up with the District 9 flashfic, but eventually… I decided to try and write this down as a second submission for the event. Finished this in a day (thank you J for our sprint sessions!), so it might be an incoherent mess though.
> 
> Anyway, they’re all the same age and in high school here, so the dynamics might have shifted a little. Keep that in mind while reading, but I hope you enjoy this nevertheless. Also, do check out the other imaginative works that belong to this event/collection!

  
⁜  
  


“You're by yourself today,” Jisung comments, falling into step beside Minho as the latter walks out of the gates of their high school.

“Very astute, Han Jisung,” Minho retorts back, deadpan in tone but with a hint of a smile tugging at the corner of his lips.

“I live to observe,” Jisung says back with a grin; as soon as his earlier statement left his lips, he had immediately realised the silliness of it, but banter with Minho had always been quite easy. It's why he never thinks to filter his thoughts when it comes to the other. “Where's Hyunjin?”

Minho shrugs. “Oh. You know. With Hana.”

“Ah.” Jisung falls into silence; he knows he should have expected that answer. Hana and Hyunjin have been attached at the hip for over a week now, ever since he confessed to her after the movie club had finished filming their yearly project.

The fact that Hana had accepted his confession had come as a surprise not just to Jisung but to their entire friend group — everyone had been under the impression that she liked Minho, and not Hyunjin. Minho had smiled, never once making any sort of comment about the new couple and as far as Jisung knows, no one has really asked him how he feels about it.

Sometimes Jisung wants to; Minho has always been honest and straightforward with him, and Seungmin had once made a throwaway comment that if anyone could pry out Minho's real thoughts and feelings on the matter, it would be Jisung.

It feels wrong to poke around in Minho's business, though. The two of them get along so well precisely because they know not to get too deep whenever they spend time together. They joke around, they hang out, and they have fun — Jisung is close with Minho, but that's the extent of their friendship, really.

“—self too.” Jisung snaps out of his thoughts, only to catch the tail end of whatever it is Minho was telling him.

“What was that?”

“You're by yourself, too,” Minho repeats with an amused smile.

“No I'm not,” he answers with a big grin, and a playful elbow to Minho's side. “I'm with you.”

Minho laughs. “Touché. Wanna go get something to eat, then? I'm in the mood for burgers.”

“Are you treating me?” Jisung asks, pausing on the sidewalk as he does his best impression of the pleading Puss-in-Boots look.

“No.” Minho is a little too quick to answer, but Jisung would be lying if he says that he didn't expect that, so he just laughs.

“Fair enough.”

The nearest burger chain is located just several blocks from their school, and the two of them don't run out of casual chit chat as they walk towards it's direction. Mostly, Jisung blathers on about Seungmin's new film script — which he isn't even sure he's allowed to do, but he's excited about it anyway, if only because he thinks Minho would do great playing the lead character once again.

“I wouldn't mind giving a chance to others,” Minho says with a chuckle. “I wouldn't mind working behind the scenes—I know Hyunjin wants his shot in front of the camera anyway.”

Jisung wrinkles his nose. Minho is a great actor—the best in their club, which is why he was the star of their production this year, and the second lead the previous year (and that was only because the seniors who have since graduated, wanted one of their own to play the lead).

“I think you're the better pick,” Jisung asserts a little too aggressively; if he's to be honest, he's been a little vexed at Hyunjin ever since he confessed to Hana.

(“You don't just do that to a friend,” he had ranted to Seungmin. “I'd never go after someone if I knew _you_ liked them,” he further explained.

“You don't know what went on there,” Seungmin calmly berated him. “Hyunjin and Minho have been best friends since grade school—before any of us even knew either of them. Minho doesn't seem to be angry, so why are you?”)

“Thanks,” Minho says with a laugh. “What about you—is there a character in Seungmin's new script that's made for you?”

Jisung wrinkles his nose. “I'm fine working on the lights,” he contends, even though deep down inside, he also sometimes wonders how it would feel to be _in_ the limelight, instead of the one casting it. But at the end of the day, he knows that’s not where his talents lie.

When they get to Lotteria, Minho immediately makes Jisung save them seats while he orders; when Jisung insists on paying for his meal, Minho simply hand waves the offer, and tells him “Next time.”

  
  
  


The next day, during lunch, when Jisung arrives at the cafeteria with Seungmin, he finds that all members of their friend group are seated at their usual table — except for one.

“Where's Minho?” he asks, glancing at Hyunjin and reluctantly directing the question at him; they're best friends and in Class 2-C together, so if anyone would know it would be him.

“He said he wanted to take a nap,” Hyunjin answers, sounding unbothered.

Not a minute passes before Hana is walking over, smiling bright and wide as Hyunjin scoots over to make room for her. Jisung catches Seungmin sending him a precautionary glance which he promptly ignores.

Just as Hana sits herself down, Jisung pushes his own chair out with a loud scrape, and he stands up. “I forgot something in the club room,” he announces. “I'll see you guys later!”

The first place he heads to isn't the club room, though; he hurries to Class 2-C, peering inside the room, only for his shoulders to sag in disappointment when he finds that Minho isn't there napping, like Hyunjin had purported. 

His next stop is the club room, but Minho isn't there either. At that point, Jisung almost gives up — he doesn't know why he wants to find the other boy. If he didn't want to eat lunch with them, that's not really his problem, is it?

He starts walking back to the cafeteria building, only to be reminded of something as he passes the stairwell leading up to the rooftop. Minho had once made a passing statement to him, long ago, about how he hates heights, and yet he finds peace up on the school's rooftop. Jisung isn't particularly keen on tall places himself, so he hadn't processed the information more than his brain simply storing it somewhere in the back of his memories, maybe to be accessed again some time in the future.

That day in the future, apparently, has come, because sure enough, when he quietly steps out onto the building's rooftop, the first thing he sees is Minho, seated on the floor and leaning against the balustrade, eyes closed despite the half eaten kimbap roll held in his hand.

 _He's truly beautiful,_ Jisung can't help but think as he approaches the other boy. Minho's lips are slightly parted open, his two crooked, bunny-like front teeth cutely peering out, while his long eyelashes lightly fanned the apples of his defined cheekbones.

Jisung crouches in front of him, unsure if he should wake Minho up — he doesn't even know why he's here, or what he wants from his friend. It was almost instinct to him, going to find Minho because he didn't want him to be alone while Hyunjin flaunted his new girlfriend in front of their entire friend group.

As Jisung gets lost in his thoughts, mentally trying to justify his own inexplicable actions, one of Minho's eyes open, and,

“Boo!” Minho hisses, startling him entirely.

He topples backwards in surprise, and falls on his ass which apparently is enough to trigger Minho into a fit of uncontrollable laughter.

“YAH!!” he yells, huffing even as he just adjusts position so he can sit cross-legged in front of Minho. “You could have given me a heart attack!!”

Minho chortles and shakes his head. “Wouldn't have pegged you to be the type to have a weak heart, Han Jisung.”

He doesn't know why — maybe it's Minho making a comment about his heart, or maybe it's just the way Minho has a habit of always saying his name in full, but Jisung feels something in his chest flutter.

“Tch.” He shakes his head and rolls his eyes, but he doesn't hesitate in offering the extra box of green grape juice he had picked out at the cafeteria earlier to Minho — he knows this is one of the latter's favorite drinks; he knows because they're the same.

“Oh. Thanks,” Minho gladly takes it, placing it beside him before wordlessly offering Jisung a bite of his kimbap.

“Later,” Jisung tells him, as he works on unwrapping his three roll pack of cheese bread.

“What are you doing here?” Minho asks, watching him a little too closely that Jisung feels heat start to creep up his neck.

“You weren't at lunch,” Jisung simply points out, handing one of his bread rolls to Minho before finally accepting Minho's earlier offer and taking a big bite off the end of the kimbap roll — the end that Minho had obviously already bitten off from. Kind of an _indirect kiss,_ Jisung can't help but think.

“Told Hyunjin I was gonna nap. I had a late night,” Minho says simply. “Why is your face so red?”

Jisung coughs, almost choking on rice and ham and seaweed and whatever else is in that kimbap. “It's hot,” he croaks out after taking a long sip off the straw that's stuck into his own boxed grape juice.

“Sure—" Minho laughs; frankly speaking, the afternoon breeze is extra nice up on the rooftop and Jisung's excuse has absolutely no leg to stand on.

He appreciates Minho not blatantly calling him out; when he manages enough composure to look up, their eyes meet briefly. Minho is the one to avert his gaze first, and that's only when Jisung notices the red shade of the tips of his ears.

“The kimbap was nice,” he comments casually, his confidence slowly creeping back in.

“Thank you.” Minho looks at him directly, this time his smile genuine and reflected in his eyes. “I made it myself.”

“Really?!” Jisung doesn't know why he's surprised; when it comes down to it, it makes sense — after all, is there anything that Lee Minho can't do?

“Mhm.” Minho hums in between chewing on the rest of his lunch. “I'm an only child, but both of my parents work, so—” he shrugs. “I learned to take care of myself.”

“Oh. Wow.”

“Yeah—” Minho's smile gets wider. “When I was younger, I used to stay over at Hyunjin's a lot because my parents would sometimes work late hours—that's how Hyunjin and I became really good friends.”

“Ah.” Jisung isn't sure what to make of the sinking feeling that drops at the pit of his stomach; he refuses to acknowledge that it was very likely brought on by the fondness in Minho's tone when talking about Hyunjin — that would just be silly, wouldn't it?

“You and Seungmin—you've known each other for as long, right?” Minho asks, effectively pulling Jisung out of his silly reverie.

“Oh. No—I met him during the second year of middle school. My family lived overseas for three years, and we only moved back here when I was 13,” Jisung explains; he almost feels sad that Minho didn't know as much. Sure, they don't talk a lot about the details of their respective lives, but he likes to think they're pretty good friends — even before Minho and Hyunjin's girl troubles, the two of them have spent enough time together, on their own.

“Right.” Minho smiles, teasing. “Malaysia. Of course I knew that, idiot.”

Jisung snorts and hits Minho's knee. “What else do you know?”

Minho laughs. “That we're going to be late for class if we don't get going soon because lunch time is almost over,” he relays, tapping on his wrist watch to help drive in his point.

“Hmmm.” Jisung hums and shrugs, stretching his legs as if to relax himself; he makes no move to get up and compose himself. “Are you in a hurry?”

“No.” Minho shakes his head, his cheeky grin curving wider. “Not really.”

  
  
  


“You and Minho have been spending an awful lot of time together,” Seungmin observes one weekend afternoon, when Jisung comes over to his best friend's house to work on homework together. “I mean—more than usual.”

Jisung shrugs. “I hadn't noticed,” he answers; it's a lie because of course he has noticed. Who would know better than him, when it comes to how he spends his time, and who he spends it with?

“Sure, okay.” Seungmin, of course, is not convinced.

“Yes. Okay,” Jisung insists, a little too defensively. “I mean—you and Felix have been spending an awful lot of time together yourselves.” He sits up straight and points his pen at Seungmin. “I've been feeling replaced recently, you know!”

Seungmin snorts. “You can always spend time with us.”

Jisung scoffs. “It's not in my best interest to third wheel,” he declares before looking back down at the problem set that's making him want to claw his brain out.

“You won't—” Seungmin sighs and cuts himself off as if deciding that denial is moot. “We can always spend time by ourselves when we want to. That doesn't mean you aren't welcome to hang out with us every now and then.”

Jisung perks up and flashes a crooked grin at Seungmin. “So you're saying that you _do_ want to spend time by yourselves—?” He lifts an eyebrow, and Seungmin rolls his eyes.

“Yes,” Seungmin answers straightforwardly. “And now that I've done you the service of being honest with you, are you ready to do the same?”

Jisung wrinkles his nose and twirls his pen between his fingers. “Nope,” he decides after a beat, popping his p for effect.

Seungmin groans and throws a pillow at him; it hits him right in his face but he just laughs.

“Minho's a fun guy—we get along really well. It's easy when I hang out with him. Besides, he doesn't deserve to be alone just because his best friend is a snake who snatched his girl away without batting an eyelash.”

“Hana isn't a thing that Minho owned, 'Sung,” Seungmin presses; Jisung knows he's right but he just shakes his head. “At this point I think this is about something else entirely.”

“Well, thinking is free real estate!” Jisung accedes. “You're welcome to your wrong opinion!”

“You're insufferable!”

“And yet you're best friends with me anyway.”

  
  
  


Jisung isn't the type who frequently goes to the library; the only times that he ever really set foot there voluntarily were times when he needed to look for Seungmin—and Minho, now, apparently.

The other boy had texted him earlier, telling him that he's going to be spending a couple of hours after class at the library because he has to do research for some extra credit he needs to work on for Korean Literature. Jisung, bored because most of his afternoons recently have been spent with Minho, had messaged him back telling him that he'll join him.

He figures the library seems like a pretty ideal place to take a nap anyway.

The moment he walks into the building, he gets a suspicious stare from the librarian behind the desk, which alerts him to be more conscious about being quiet. He walks around the stacks looking for Minho, and when he doesn't spot him, he goes around expecting the separate study nooks. He still doesn't find Minho, but he does find Minho's backpack in one of the nooks, parked right beside a stack of books on the topic that he knows Minho is trying to write a paper on.

He takes the chair across Minho's and rests his head on the surface of the tiny desk; he figures he can just wait for the other boy here instead of tiring himself by aimlessly looking around.

A couple of minutes pass, and he gets increasingly impatient — maybe he should look around for something to read? He rummages through his bag and pulls out a notebook. He considers that maybe he should be a good student and try to do homework—and then he almost laughs at the idea.

It's a Friday, and unlike Minho, he doesn't need library access to do what homework he's assigned. He sighs and starts lightly drumming his fingers against the table — it's only then that he notices Minho's wallet sticking out of the corner of his opened bag. He winces because that's a stupid move on Minho's part, leaving his valuable unattended, and Minho isn't known to make stupid decisions. At least for the most part.

He reaches across the desk so he can at least stuff the wallet further into the bag, out of sight, when a silly idea crosses his mind.

(And even though he would like to deny it, Jisung is very much known for making silly—not stupid, but _silly—_ decisions.)

He opens his notebook and starts doodling — he has a favorite character to draw, an anthropomorphized hamster that he tends to illustrate with a bright smile and speech bubbles that usually contain fighting words. Usually, he draws this character in the margins of Seungmin's scripts when he reviews them for his friend — only because Seungmin is the one person who knows that Jisung likes drawing 4-panel comics, and that Jisung secretly hopes to one day make a living out of drawing them. His art isn’t really something that he openly shows people; his parents are convinced that he’s going to be taking up something like accounting, or engineering when he moves on to university. 

_“CHEER UP!”_ is what he writes this time — simple words that he wants to reach Minho when the latter is least expecting them, but hopefully in need of them. He glances around — it's really strange that Minho is taking so long; he mentally pats himself on the back because it's probably a good thing he arrived before anyone could poke around Minho's things — or worse, steal them.

He snatches Minho's wallet from his bag; he means to fold his tiny message up and sneak it inside the flaps for Minho to later find. As he tries to fit it in between Minho's various identification and membership cards, he realises that something else is wedged in there. Curiously, he pulls out a matte piece of paper only to be pleasantly shocked when he sees that it's Minho's copy of the 4-cut set of photobooth pictures that they had taken together from over a year ago when they were still freshmen.

Their group of friends had gone to Lotte World during their summer break — in part, it was so that they could film a short comedy film that Changbin had penned for the club. It was a little project that didn’t involve their upperclassmen, and the tiny trip had ended up with all of them playing around and just having fun at the amusement park.

Minho had sneakily pulled Jisung away from the rest. “Do you really want to get on the Gyro Drop?” he had asked with a wince. “I mean—I'll go if you do.”

Jisung laughed; it was no secret that the two of them weren't very good with heights, but it was also no secret that neither of them liked backing down from challenges.

“I'm hungry,” had been his simple answer; reason enough for both of them to go get churros while everyone else screamed their heads off for a couple of minutes after a half-hour wait in line.

After eating, they'd spotted the picture booths near the indoor displays, and after exchanging an understanding look, the two of them entered one and happily took silly pictures together.

“What do people do with these?” Minho had asked as he studied the prints; he wore a fond smile that Jisung couldn't help but unconsciously mirror.

“Keep it in your wallet,” Jisung jokingly jibed.

He ended up keeping his copy at home, in his desk drawer along with his drawing pens; now he's finding out that Minho really took to _his_ suggestion.

Finally, he hears faint footsteps approaching the study nook; he has no idea if it's Minho, another student, or maybe even the librarian but he rushes to shove the picture print back into the flap, somewhere in between Minho's school ID, his debit card that's obviously connected to his parents' bank account, various membership cards, and now, also his cute little note.

He glances around nervously, and pushes the wallet back down in Minho's bag, and—

“Oh, hey, you're here.”

“Yes.” Jisung nods enthusiastically— _nervously,_ but he hopes Minho doesn't detect that; he chooses to ignore the strangely curious look the other boy gives him. “Where the heck were you?! You just left your things lying around—”

“Yeah,” Minho doesn't argue as he sits down across Jisung. “Call of nature,” he says in a very matter-of-fact tone.

Jisung snorts. “Gross. I hope you washed your hands thoroughly.”

Minho laughs and waves his hands right in front of Jisung's face. “What do you think?”

“Gross!” he repeats, a little too loudly; the two of them erupt into fits of giggles, and it really isn't much of a surprise when this earns them both a sharp hiss from the librarian.

  
  
  


“I think—” Jisung inhales deeply, and Seungmin stares at him, simply waiting for him to get his words out. “I like Minho,” he exhales shakily.

Seungmin snorts. “I know.”

Jisung scowls. “I'm not accepting any I told you so's from you, Mr. Know It All.”

Seungmin laughs. “I'm not gonna say I told you so because I never really told you so. I know you too well—your skull is so thick, so nothing I said would have gotten drilled in anyway. You really needed to discover it yourself, and now you have, so—” he shrugs and pats Jisung's shoulder in a manner that one can almost describe as _patronizing._ “Congratulations, Han Jisung.”

  
  
  


It's hard because he suddenly doesn't know how to act around Minho. When they're all together, with their friends, it's easy because he just goes on auto-pilot. He cracks jokes, and tells stupid stories, and discusses movies and the new melOn top 50 with everyone. Minho does the same, but it isn't as if Jisung expects him to act any different.

He's the one who has discovered his own big, fat crush on his friend, not Minho, so why should anything change from his side? 

One afternoon, when he makes his way to the movie club room, Jisung is surprised to see it mostly empty. He knows that Seungmin and Felix are out because they said they wanted to get a quick snack before heading to the club room, but he thought Changbin and Chan would at least be there. Jeongin, maybe.

The only people who are there are Minho and Hana, huddled close together with Seungmin's newly polished script being shared between the two of them. They're both smiling, and they look happy and comfortable. He frowns, and his chest tightens uncomfortably — almost like thick, ugly vines are wrapping around the thumping organ, squeezing and squeezing and threatening to crush it.

“Why aren’t you coming inside—?” a familiar voice asks softly from behind him; Jisung is surprised anyway, the baby hairs on the back of his neck standing at attention, at least before he turns and confirms that it’s just Hyunjin.

“Uh—” he feels awkward, because Minho is inside the room, looking a little too cosy with Hyunjin’s _girlfriend,_ and even though he isn’t very keen on Hyunjin precisely because of how he and Hana got together, this situation is still clearly less than ideal.

Hyunjin looks past him anyway, and spies the scene that Jisung had been observing earlier. 

“Ah.” Hyunjin nods—surprising Jisung all over again, because the only expression he wears with it is clear understanding. “I’ve been there, but—don’t worry. Nothing’s going on there,” he tells Jisung, in a tone that can be described as… _reassuring._

It makes Jisung scowl at him, which clearly takes Hyunjin back. The latter shakes his head and raises his hands in defeat.

“Whatever,” Hyunjin mutters. “I was just trying to make you feel better.”

“I don’t need that from _you,”_ Jisung mumbles.

“What have I ever done to you?!”

“Not to me, but—” he glances back inside the room where Minho and Hana seem to be busy discussing something; they haven’t even looked up to notice him and Hyunjin out in the corridor.

Realisation dawns on Hyunjin’s features and he cringes. “You think I stole her from Minho, don’t you?”

“You _did!”_ Jisung insists.

Hyunjin groans. “No, I didn’t. I thought—at first, I thought they liked each other but—” he shakes his head. “You’re a dumbass. Minho has always liked—you know what? Never mind. Talk to him yourself if you’re so bothered.”

And then he easily steps past Jisung, and into the room. “Minho! Hana!”

The pair looks up, their faces lighting up at the sight of Hyunjin. Jisung really doesn’t get it — he thinks if Seungmin went and confessed to the person he liked, he truly wouldn’t be able to let it go. At least not for a long time. He thinks maybe not until he’s done with military enlistment, at the very least; it’s kind of amazing that Minho doesn’t hold grudges.

“Jisung!” Minho calls out to him; the boy is soon getting up from his chair and leaving Hyunjin and Hana to study Seungmin’s script without him as he makes his way to Jisung. “You thirsty? Let’s get something to drink from the vending machine down the hall.”

“Huh?” He glances at the couple inside the room, already lost in each other, and then he looks at Minho — the tightness in his chest is still present, maybe even more prominent now.

“Come on.” Minho gestures for him to follow, and all Jisung can do is move his feet to go after him until they reach the vending machine located down at the opposite end of the hall.

“Are you okay?” Minho peers at him. “You look pale—green grape juice for you?”

Jisung nods; despite himself, a small smile tugs at his lips from the fact that Minho knows exactly what drink he wants.

The other boy opens his wallet and swipes his card along the machine slot, and presses the button for their drinks. He wonders if Minho has seen his little note yet, and the thought makes his face feel warm.

“Han Jisung—” Minho calls out to him with a soft chuckle. “You’re really out of it today. You sure everything’s fine?”

He nods again, and snatches his drink out of Minho’s hold. He pops the tab open, the sound echoing down the empty hall, mixed with Minho’s sigh.

“Han Jisung,” he repeats, right before breaking out into a big smile. _“Cheer up!”_

He blinks, and Minho laughs. “I got your note, and it cheered me up,” he says simply. “I feel like it’s my turn to do the same with you.”

Jisung’s face contorts into a faux-disgusted expression. “Ew, Minho! You’re being—” he pauses for effect, “—gross and sappy!”

Minho only laughs even more. “Fine! As if you’re not the one leaving cute little notes for me to find—” he singsongs.

Upon being called out, Jisung freezes. “I don’t know—”

Before he can finish his moot denial, Minho holds up the piece of torn paper with his hamster doodle. “This is you, right?” 

He opens his mouth to attempt more denial, but then Minho rummages through his bag, and produces another piece of paper with the familiar hamster drawing. “This, too—? From last year, when I broke my ankle?” Minho laughs, and Jisung just gapes as he produces yet another piece of paper. “And I found this one in my foot locker a few months ago when I got the lead in the film. _Cheer up, Get well, Congratulations—!_ ” he grins. “I have a couple more in my bag, but—all these are from you, right? ”

“Um.” Jisung is shocked that Minho has kept all of them, little notes and doodles that he had secretly left for the latter over the course of their friendship in the last two years—because maybe it isn't true that Seungmin is the only one who has seen his doodles. He just never really counted Minho, because he always thought that there was no way the other boy could know they were from him and by him. “Maybe.”

Minho scoffs and tucks the notes back away in his bag, in between the pages of a textbook. _“Maybe,”_ he mocks. “You went through my wallet,” he states. “That’s personal.”

“I… did?” Jisung laughs nervously. “I did,” he repeats with a sheepish nod. “Sorry.”

“You saw, right?” Minho’s voice is softer now, tentative. 

Jisung, typical of him, uses this as an opportunity to push, and put on false bluster. “Yes,” he answers. “I saw the lonely 5,000 KRW bill.”

Minho snorts. “Yeah, it’s because I’m broke from always buying you green grape juice.”

Jisung looks up and sticks his tongue out at him before making a show of tipping his can of grape juice against his lips, and taking a gulp from it. “Aaah! Thirst quenching!”

“You’re ridiculous,” Minho comments. “But you know what I was really talking about.”

Jisung takes a deep breath. “Our picture? You really kept it in your wallet.”

“You said for me to do it,” Minho states.

“Are you going to follow everything I tell you to do?”

Minho laughs. “No. Just the instructions that cheer me up—” he smiles. “And looking at our picture cheers me up.”

“Oh. Ah.” There’s no denying it — Jisung blushes a deep shade of red at that. “Um.”

“Yeah.” Minho continues slowly. “Generally— _you_ cheer me up, Han Jisung.”

“Minho…” 

“Hm?”

Jisung feels uneasy. “What about Hana?”

“What about her?” Minho lifts an eyebrow at him.

“Doesn’t she—cheer you up? Don’t you like _her?”_

Minho coughs. “Hyunjin thought the same thing—!”

“Everyone assumed you had a thing—you were always together, and you were extremely close!”

Minho starts laughing again. “Because she was always in love with Hyunjin, and she kept asking for my advice.” He cringes. “It annoyed me more than it cheered me up, quite frankly.”

Jisung gawks. “Are you for real? That’s ridiculous!”

“No more ridiculous than you just assuming I was in love with a girl who is in love with my best friend.”

Jisung frowns. “I—”

“I like _you,”_ Minho interrupts him before Jisung can get another word in. “In case that hasn’t been obvious from this entire exchange so far.”

“I—I,” Jisung sputters, caught off guard, and rendered tongue tied thanks to the calmly amused smile Minho is wearing. “I like you too!” he ends up blurting out.

Minho grins. “Well—I’m glad we got all of that out in the open now,” he says, prompt and succinct; and not another word passes his lips after that — instead, his hand finds Jisung’s, and the way their fingers thread together so perfectly is more than enough to curb the mess of rioting emotions at the pit of Jisung’s stomach. 

  
  
  
  


(“Han Jisung,” Minho calls to him as they walk to the bus stop, side by side.

There’s always been something about the way he says Jisung’s full name that makes butterflies cause a storm in Jisung’s stomach — which just might be fortunate, because that means he’s become an expert at ignoring them.

“Lee Minho,” he returns casually.

“You light up my life~” Minho sing-songs, his tone carrying a teasing lilt; it makes Jisung almost choke on his own spit anyway.

“What?!”

Minho cracks up — never mind that they’re in public, and his hyena laughter garners them strange looks. “You get it?” he asks, glancing sideways at Jisung. “Because you light up everything else. You know. As the lighting man—”

Jisung groans. “I can’t believe that was supposed to be a pick up line!”

Minho keeps laughing. “It worked anyway.”

And Jisung can’t even contest the statement, because his entire body feels flushed and Minho, well— _he’s absolutely correct.)_

  
  
  
  
  
  


🕃🕄

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reaching the end. Feedback is always welcomed and appreciated!  
> [TWT](http://twitter.com/hanmings) && [CC](http://curiouscat.me/yiminho)


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